The classroom library is the heart of the reading workshop classroom — it's where the magic happens and regular kids are transformed into super readers. Anything I can do to get more books into my students' hands (and ultimately brains) is well worth the effort. So, after thinking about some of the under-utilized parts of my classroom library, I scoured the Internet (especially Genia's blog post,) and my colleagues' brains for solutions. Then I put out a call for parent and student volunteers, and working together we gave several sections of my library a makeover.

Check out our new and improved classroom library in this video tour! Mobile users, please go to: http://bcove.me/62f7o649 . And if you want to see more "before shots" and learn about how my library used to be organized, check out my blog post, "Organizing My Classroom Library: The Never-Ending Story." (In that blog post, I explain the rationale and management systems for my library. My library is evolving, but plenty of those ideas live on in my classroom.)

Classroom Library Labels to Download

I create my book basket labels in Microsoft Word using text boxes and clip art. Here is a blank template you can download to make your own book basket labels.

Cindy, it definitely is a struggle (and a time consuming one, at that!) I think they should add a library science course to teacher prep programs since this is an overwhelmingly challenging part of our job, and one I certainly wasn't prepared to tackle. Of course, having an extensive library is a blessing, so I guess this is a very good challenge to have. All the best! ~Alycia

Love the steps you "show" on the video of re-organizing your library. Like you, I used to use "rough draft" labels for my library at first, even soliciting students to draw a picture and write the label themselves. Then, after a week or two, when the sticky note had nearly come to its shabby end, I'd present a beautiful printed label to the students, asking "Look what I found/make. Could we use this one for our basket?"

Question: After re-organizing your library out of leveled baskets, how do your students know the levels of books inside each basket. Are there a variety of levels in the baskets?

Hi Teri, thanks for writing! I love your student-centered approach to book basket labels. It's easy to get caught up in making things "pretty" when that doesn't really matter for the educational value. Thanks for your suggestion!

Yes, I have a wide range of levels in my genre baskets, and I have the level written onto the cover of almost every book in those baskets. (Well, I try for every book!) My students know that they will be most successful if they find books in the genre baskets that are around their level. I don't restrict my students to only reading books on their independent levels, though. I find that motivated readers can often make it through higher-level books if they are very interested in the subject matter, and I'm also okay with them doing some light below-level reading from time to time. Levels are definitely a helpful scaffold, but not the end all-be all, especially once my students are fluent readers/decoders. By the higher levels (>S) I find that interest level seems to matter more than reading level.

By the way, Scholastic has an awesome new Book Wizard app that makes leveling books a breeze! Check it out and let me know what you think. All the best ... Alycia

Wow! You have inspired me! I especially like the tip about calling in parents to help with the grunt work. I have a great bunch of parents this year just dying to help me. This is certainly the place. Thanks.
Fellow Third Grade Teacher

This is absolutely amazing. It looks like it took you a lot of time to create all of these. Thank you so much for sharing!! I had my library organized, but over the years and through several moves, some of the labels have gone missing. I look forward to using these labels to reorganize my library again as well. Thanks again =)

You are very welcome - I'm so happy that my labels will help in your classroom! You may want to check back every so often; I plan on uploading some new batches of labels soon. Thanks for reading/watching! ~Alycia

Oh, Alycia--how a part of me wishes I had not watched your video! Your library tour and ideas for book organization were so wonderful that I'm making plans to redo part of my library (again!)I love how you broke down your realistic fiction categories, and I know my class will love the "buzz-worthy" baskets. Thanks so much for inviting us into your classroom and inspiring with your ideas! ~G

Mwah-ha-ha, my plan for payback is complete! Just kidding - thank you for the comment, Genia. YOU were the inspiration to rethink my baskets - the mini labels on each book are directly from your blog post. Doing away with my leveled baskets felt "daring"; leveled baskets have always been a significant part of my library. But it really is working - my students are now scouring the sub-genre baskets which live on the shelves that formerly held the mostly-ignored leveled baskets. They still find their "just right books," but searching for those books by genre seems to make more sense for my students.